Lost wedding ring – Dauphin Island, AL
It was Wednesday evening and I was enjoying dinner with my BFF and detecting partner in Gulf Shores when I got a call from Justin who was vacationing at the beach from St Louis, MO. In spite of my phone displaying an unknown number, something told me to answer it. He explained that he had lost his wedding band over on Dauphin Island and sounded quite desperate to find it. Since I was visiting my friend for a week, I suggested I could probably look for it on Friday when I was planning to pass through on my way back home to Mobile. Hearing the disappointment in his voice, I decided my friend and I could go ahead and hop on the ferry first thing Thursday morning instead and try to help him out.
Justin anxiously met us upon our arrival at his rental and explained that he had thrown a football and felt the ring come off as he did so. They had been looking in the sand for it but, being platinum, it blended right in with the sand. He showed us where he had been standing and had even staked out an area where he believed the ring to be. By the time I was getting my machine set up, Cheryl had already completed her first pass of the area we were going to grid. I took about three steps toward the area to start when I heard Cheryl right behind me say, “I found it”….. pretty much right where I had been standing when I turned on my detector lol. There’s a good reason she is becoming known in the area by her well deserved nickname – “Beach Angel”. For the second time this week, I was thankful to have her with me as she seems to have an uncanny ability to go right to the exact area when we are doing a search. And Justin was very thankful to put his ring back on his finger where it belonged ! And please check out his awesome ministry channel on YouTube – Trial by Faith ……
https://youtube.com/shorts/lSIAHajTR1s?si=4LUfxCD8RLXUu2Pd
It was quite some time ago when Brittnee’s mom asked if I could find her daughter’s lost class ring. It was very sentimental to her as it had been bought for her by her now deceased grandmother. The only problem was that she gave me a very large search area on the beach – everywhere from up by the dunes playing volleyball to swimming all the way out to some sea wall rocks. I went and searched with no luck. Because it’s a beach where I detect frequently, I looked again. And again. And again ! It took me 18 months to get that smile, but persistence pays off !!
Night before last I got a call from Lacey asking if I could come find her sister Nichole’s lost James Avery charm bracelet in the sand at the beach. She had placed it in her chair cup holder, but apparently forgot and dumped it out when picking it up to put it away. It was very sentimental to her, as she told me she had been adding charms to it for several years. It was rather late and I was 45 minutes away so I promised I would come early the next morning. I arrived and was relieved to see that they were renting a vacation house directly on a small private beach. They had marked off a square where they thought it might be so I set off carefully gridding the area with my Equinox 800. Within minutes, I got a signal that was much deeper than I expected a fresh drop to be and definitely not as loud as I would have thought. First scoop – nothing. Second scoop – nothing. Third scoop – and there was her shiny silver bracelet sparkling in the dry sand. Nichole happily placed it back on her wrist and gave me a hug. I (as always !) turned down her offered reward and asked only for a picture of her smiling – the best reward ever !